Category: News

We expected Bestival to provide a new festival experience for Toronto this past weekend. The organizers definitely delivered what we would call one of the best outdoor music festival experiences to date. The overall theme and atmosphere created by the positive, playful characters running about the island made the weekend seem even more surreal than anticipated. Each night a grand parade marched through the island, passing by each stage to  recruit new friends.

We also took note of the very different sounds that could be heard across the festival layout. The Bacardi tent was home to many of the heavier / bass acts, while the main stage drew a lighter, more family oriented sound. Our favorite stage design by far was the Bollywood Stage, which looked more like an ancient jungle temple than anything. In terms of music, there was something for everyone and that made wandering around with your pals all the more pleasant.

Some of the musical artists included:

FLORENCE + THE MACHINE / NAS / FLUME / CARIBOU / SBTRKT (DJ) / FLOSSTRADAMUS / BANKS / ROBIN SCHULZ / JAMIE JONES / ZHU / CLEAN BANDIT / WAVVES / JAMIE XX / RUDIMENTAL (DJ) / OWEN PALLETT / KEYS N KRATES / BORN RUFFIANS / BAKERMAT / OMAR SOULEYMAN / CASHMERE CAT / GRANDTHEFT / JUSTIN MARTIN / DUSKY / SKREAM / ROBERT DELONG / DJ TENNIS / CASSY / SHAMIR / LANE 8 / NATHAN BARATO / MATOMA / MUSEUM OF LOVE / HUNTER SIEGEL / SHAUN FRANK / KILL THEM WITH COLOURS / HUMANS / TOPS / TEI SHI / RIVER TIBER / HARRISON / COLEMAN HELL & MORE

Bestival definitely set the bar quite high in terms of the quality of experience. People left feeling positive about joining in on the fun and there wasn’t much of the typical EDM lifestyle to be seen, but more-less a happy, positive crowd of family and friends looking to come together for a beautiful weekend of surreal island adventure.

See all of our photos here!

IMG_9572 IMG_9559 Bestival IMG_9638IMG_9588 IMG_95792